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Values: Serve Your City

One of our main life principles is the passion to be part and serve your local city. Sharon and I have always been about this principle. mainly because of our parents in small town America, and it’s apart of the culture. When we moved to Hilliard, we needed to figure out WHAT this city needed.

We knew connection and community had to be highlights with what we do, but we were not sure if that was just our idea or is it really how we will connect to this city. At first, it was rather rough to get connected because we didn’t yet have a concept that was easy to show everyone, so we had to lead with what we knew best: Serve.

We attended Hilliard’s Tree Lighting ceremony (then at the Historical Village) and then attended a few other events the city was putting on. As we enjoyed these events with our family, Sharon and I would chat about how we can serve. We had puppets, character skits and other educational experiences and we started to craft out an idea on how we may add to what is already going on. We, in no way, wanted to take over what was going on BUT we wanted to add to what was already happening. Those ideas slowly stayed there and never materialized due to busy-ness of life.

As Tim Hofmann and I were roasting coffee at my house, Sharon and I went to the Parks and Rec department of Hilliard and asked how we could help. We wondered if they would like us to provide a coffee station and if they wanted us to do the hot cocoa, since a food truck did it the year earlier. We talked about how we had a small group of people that were connected to various faith communities that wanted to serve the community. Beth and Hayley, who are key leaders within that department, asked how much we would charge to do the hot cocoa. Sharon piped up, “We’d do it for free!”

Needless to say, the two were shocked by the offer. We stressed again that if this is a way to serve, we would staff that station. Because of this, they also agreed in allowing us to serve and sell coffee! This meeting is what opened up a wonderful relationship with the Parks and Rec department within the city of Hilliard.

From there, we have partnered and done so much together. From cleaning the parks, to operating the Summer Concert series Kids Zone, to celebrating 4th of July festivities with coffee, to volunteering at back to school events, we’ve created the most important relationship…. FRIENDSHIP!

A simple way to serve our city turned into partnering with a great group of people who were already serving their city so amazingly. Recent events have clouded this department, and causes our hearts break. Instead of backing off of this relationship, we have decided to be a source of encouragement and support as they walk through this tough season. We are honored to serve this city in ways that no one else is, and we are excited to see others do the same. Serving is not just a method to make this city better. Serving is the heart of WHY we do what we do. Without it, we are shallow, manipulative and self-serving.